Alternate Ending
by tametheflame
Summary: TATE, the team solve some tricky cases...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters **

_this is the first time I've written a fan fiction so if you read it it would be nice to have some feed back... I'd like to know what you think of it!_

**Chapter 1**

"So? What do you think happened?" Kate heard Tony's voice come up from behind her. She looked at him, her mind had been elsewhere when he asked her the question and she now tried to focus on what he had said.

"Oh. Well it's hard to tell," Kate started, "I'm not Ducky but it looks as if he was tortured. The marks on his neck make it seem like he was burnt with something… but who would want to kill an ex-marine stuck in a wheel chair?"

Tony and Kate were the only ones at the scene. Gibbs and McGee were off interviewing the general who had over seen the marine's training and commanded him in the op. that left him paralysed from the waist down. Kate and Tony were waiting for Ducky and Palmer to take the body back to NCIS for an autopsy. Tony sketched while Kate examined the area trying to find a clue to what happened; so far their search was in vain. Kate sighed as Tony walked up next to her.

"This might be a hard one." Tony said looking down at her.

"Always ready for an adventure." Kate said smiling up at him.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out and hit the wall next to them. Tony reacted instantly jumping on top of Kate, covering her from any more bullets. Tony looked around and heard rubber screech on pavement as a car pulled onto a road to fast. Whoever had been firing the gun, they were gone now.

"You hit?" Tony asked Kate, breathing hard from adrenaline, concern in his voice.

" No. I'm alright." Kate said. Tony looked into her eyes trying to make sure she was telling the truth. Kate felt his warm breath on her face. "You two alright?" Gibbs' voice came from behind them.

"Fine boss, some maniac tried to shoot us." Tony said, helping Kate to her feet.

Kate was bright red and Tony was attempting to regain his cool, (it wasn't working)

"Ok. DiNozzo get some help, your losing a lot of blood from your hand." Gibbs said handing Tony a bandage. Tony looked down at his hand and figured he had cut it somehow in the act of dodging bullets. Fifteen minutes later Ducky and Palmer finally arrived and took the body back to NCIS, Palmer had, yet again, gotten them lost. Somehow he had managed to mistake highway one, for highway five. Ducky got into the drivers seat (after giving palmer a serious lecture on the importance of map skills) and started the car. Gibbs nodded to them and they drove off. Gibbs got into his car and waved the rest of the team over. Kate hopped into the front seat and Tony lay down in the back, McGee sat with him trying to stop some of the bleeding from his hand. Fifteen minutes later Kate heard a grunting noise coming from the back seat, she turned around.

"What the…?" She looked at McGee. He had more blood on him then Tony and the bandage he was holding had somehow ended up wrapped boa style around his neck, Legs and torso, Tony held the end in his injured hand. Kate couldn't help it she started smiling, McGee was attempting to unwind it from his legs but was having issues seeing as a section kept falling in front of his eyes; Tony slowly grabbed his camera and quickly snapped a picture of McGee,

"Cheese!" he yelled.

"Hey!" said McGee, flailing around trying to loose the bandage. He ended up even more tangled then before. After McGee started winding the bandage around Tony to try to get it off him… Tony had had enough.

"Give me that!" Tony barked at McGee.

"What?" McGee said; squishing his nose up to keep the section out of his eyes. Tony thought he looked a bit like an Egyptian mummy…. _This should be funny…_Tony thought.

"Here we go…" Kate said to Gibbs, after she saw that look in Tony's eyes. Gibbs shook his head. Tony gave his end of the bandage a tug; McGee crashed to the floor. "Ouch…."

Tony smiled.

His hand still hadn't stopped bleeding so Kate took over. Grabbing the bandage she expertly wrapped it around Tony's hand military style and clipped it with her hair clip.

"Thanks." Tony said smiling as Kate used a towel to get the blood off her hands.

"Anytime." Kate said smiling back.

"Hey that's what I was trying to do!" McGee said

"All in time Probie" said Tony, "All in time."

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When they arrived back at NCIS Tony went down to see Ducky about his hand and to get a proper bandage on it. Kate went down and sat at her desk sighing as she started looking over the three boxes of anything and everything related to the murdered ex-marine. There was nothing different about his work. It was consistent and neat and the worse he had on him was a couple speeding tickets from before he was paralysed. Everything seemed normal, he had passed all his training the first time through not needing to take anything twice, (a little odd Kate thought, but not unheard of) and he was despatched as an active Marine almost directly after his training; But only three months into he career he was shot in the back, severing the nerves in his spinal cord leaving him paralysed from the waist down for life. After he was shot he started working in the kitchens on base little jobs at first, he wasn't ready to retire and they were short on staff in the kitchen; gradually everyone realized he was a fantastic cook and 5 months later he was running the kitchens, lead chef. Kate was about done with the first box by the time Tony came back.

"How is it?" Kate asked, nodding at his hand.

"Ah no big deal, just a bit banged up." Tony said looking at his hand.

The next few hours went by slowly with no leads on the case. Kate and Tony finally gave up with the files and went down to see if Ducky had any insights and to find out the cause of the marines death.

"Yes, well, hmm… the cause of death was strangulation. You see the bruises around his neck? The pattern indicates a rope was used, but the interesting thing is that the marks have broken the skin slightly more then a rope would… which leads me to believe it was not a rope…. But plastic coated cord wire.

"That's what I thought was a burn mark, and it was in a way… a rope burn." Kate said.

"You know there was a case I saw way back when I had just started working here…" Tony and Kate had the same message plastered across their foreheads; _here we go again…_

Ducky ignored them and carried on, "What we found out in the end was the main users of wire rope (as its called) is the military, specifically the Navy. Wire can sometimes be more efficient on boats then rope."

"That gives us a lead Ducky, a lead on the murder weapon. We still don't have suspects… or motive, he has no wife so he couldn't be cheating on someone and I doubt he was having an affair with a married women, and he has a clean record so, like I said, I cant find any motive." Tony said thinking it all through.

"I don't think were dealing with rage Tony." Kate said "You know there's a saying… a marine says more at a meal then he does in a lifetime. Cooks hear things; maybe this one…"

"Heard the wrong thing" Tony said.

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"This man knew something. Now the question is, what it was and whom he heard it from. A terrorist from another country seems unlikely, but the Navy's hardly glorious. Maybe we're dealing with an Americans grudge. Against their own country." Kate finished. She thought this might be getting them somewhere.

"You think it's the same guy that shot at us?" Tony asked.

"Well, who would unload a whole round of bullets at two federal agents unless he had something against us, or our country?" Kate said sitting at her desk.

Just then she noticed McGee typing super speed on his computer.

"You got something Tim?" Kate asked walking over to him.

"Um… well I think, ah… hang on… yes." Tim said his bottom lip quivering, " I think." He added as an after thought.

"Well probie, care to tell us?" Tony said a totally fake expression of glee plastered on his face.

"Erm, right, of course. All military grounds have satellites pinned on them, you know in case of attack. I just got into the system and look over our victims navy base to see if I could find any leads on our killer." Tim said looking intently at his computer.

"Good work McGee." Gibbs had walked up behind them.

"Thanks boss," Tim said a smile playing on his face.

Gibbs nodded and then walked away.

"Don't let it go to your head…" Tony said walking away.

"Don't listen to him Tim, you did a good job." Kate said patting Tim on the shoulder.

"Thanks Kate." Tim said smiling honestly now. Tony glared at him.

Once Tim had downloaded satellite footage from the last two days he showed it to the rest of the team. They saw a black SUV pull out from the base in a rush about the same time the victim was murdered.

"Damn, that's from a sat?" Asked Tony.

"This base is one of the biggest in the country." Said Tim, "If you can get a 1,000 ft high view of anywhere in the world on Google Earth, you can get right up close and personal on the base. They have the newest sat's in orbit.

"Nice" Tony added with a whistle. Gibbs walked in closing his phone as he finished a call. His jaw was set square.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"Just got news that another marine that had worked with our first victim has gone missing, a search of his apartment shows he was taken by force."

"So our cook told someone else what he knew." Said Kate

"Any idea who took him?" Tony asked

"Not at the moment, there was no ransom and it looks like they were wearing gloves. Abby's running some tests right now" Gibbs said. "We got a suspect though, not sure if he plays into anything but its all we got at the moment, I want you two to trail him, here's his info, he should be driving a red sedan."

"Ok boss we're on it." Tony said grabbing his bag just as the door to the elevator that Kate was in closed.

"Damn!" said Tony. Kate's voice floated vaguely up from somewhere below him.

"Catch the next one…" She said. Tony looked annoyed; Gibbs smiled and waved at him.

"When u find something, call me." Gibbs called out as the elevator door closed.

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Once at the car Tony looked over at Kate who had been silent the whole time Gibbs had been talking.

"You alright?" Tony asked.

"Yes, just thinking." Kate said smiling but something just didn't feel right.

"Ok well I think I'll drive." Tony said getting into the drivers seat and when Kate didn't argue he knew something was up.

"Ok what's up?" Tony said quietly.

"I'm fine Tony. Really." Kate said.

"Ok then, lets hit the road." Tony said shifting the car into reverse.

Kate gave Tony instructions to the house. Along the way Tony looked over at Kate trying to make out what was wrong. He looked at Kate and noticed not for the first time how Kate's hair was really a dark auburn when the sun hit it. The car slowly veered towards the other lane.

"Tony! Look at the road!" Kate yelled as Tony pulled back onto the right side.

"Sorry thought I saw his licence plate." Tony covered for himself.

"Ok but from now on let me do the looking." Kate said.

"You got it." Tony said looking ahead.

About half an hour later they reached the house. There was someone just leaving.

"Is that him Kate?" Tony asked.

Kate looked at the picture several times.

"Ya, that's him," Kate said.

The man got in a car and drove off. Tony tailed him a few cars back. They followed him for half an hour before he turned into the parking lot of a small bar.

"Out drinking at 2:00 pm, not exactly a marines daily routine." Stated Kate.

"Exactly. Ready?" Tony asked Kate.

"As always," Kate said just as Tony's phone rang.

"Hi boss. Ya, we followed him to a small bar just outside of the city. Ok, right." Tony put down the phone as Kate and him walked into the bar. They saw the man sitting talking to another man in sunglasses and an expensive suit. Tony and Kate walked up to the top of the bar and ordered non-alcoholic drinks.

"What do you think?" Kate asked.

"I can't tell what they're talking about... Hold on I've got an idea." Tony said walking off.

Kate watched him slowly move up next to the men with his drink he stood there pretending to be getting a better view of an old Giants game. He tried to listen to what they were saying. Suddenly someone pushed into him and he fell forwards into the men.

"Damn it." Kate said quietly as she turned around.

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Tony reappeared by her side a few minutes later.

"We have to go." Tony said quietly in her ear.

"What happened?" Kate asked.

"I think they saw my badge." Tony said so quiet that Kate only just made out what he said.

Tony quickly paid for the drinks and they started to leave. They were half way across the car park when they realized they were being followed by the two men Tony and Kate started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Tony glanced in his mirror, they were being followed by a black SUV.

"Lose them Tony." Said Kate, watching the black SUV behind them.

"I'm _trying_." Said Tony through gritted teeth. Kate fell sideways as he turned into an alley trying to throw them off. Tony slammed on the breaks as another black SUV pulled in front of them. "Shit!" he said as the original SUV pulled up behind them blocking their exit.

"Were trapped, gotta run for it." Tony said to Kate. "Ready on the count of one… two-"a gun went off and a bullet broke their windshield making glass shatter all over them. "Out, get out!" Yelled Tony as they piled out of the car and crouched behind it for cover. Tony's phone vibrated as he pulled his gun out and fired back. Kate hit a guy in the shoulder and he went down…

"Boss! We're under fire." Tony said to Gibbs before dropping his phone, more shots rang out, Tony and Kate fired back.

"Tony, there's an open door across the alley on your left, it's our best option."

"Right." Said Tony, "You go first I'll cover you." Kate nodded, counted to three and ran as fast as she could. Tony stood up and fired at the man in the suit, a loud blast went off and Tony saw Kate go down. He watched Kate fall to the ground , Tony turned catching a look at the pinstriped leg on a suit and a polished black shoe. He felt a striking pain in his head and he fell back against the car, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

Tony shifted his weight and groaned; he opened his eyes. He was in some sort of prison cell. He looked to his left and saw Kate lying lifelessly on the ground about ten feet away. He got up, wincing as he head throbbed he went over to her. He felt for her pulse and found it was faint; to faint. The bullet had hit her low on her shoulder, almost her chest.

"Oh God. Kate. Kate come on." Tony said desperately squeezing her hands and trying to get her to wake up. Kate's eyes slowly opened and Tony could see the pain in them; she was deathly white. He quickly took off his jacket and put it around her, then ripped his shirt up to create a makeshift bandage.

"Oh God Kate, I'm so sorry." Tony said. Everything felt unreal; Kate was cold and shivering. His throat felt dry.

"It's ok Tony. You did you're best, but don't be the kind of man who's afraid to say goodbye." Kate said softly.

"No. We're going to make. You'll see. Everything will be fine." Tony said, but only half of him believed it.

Kate almost smiled. "Tony come on, I'm dieing. But I'm not afraid. Get out of here; I know you can do it." Kate murmured slowly, before she passed out.

"I can't Kate. I can't just leave you. I love you too damn much." Tony said tears welling up in his eyes. He got up and looked around; in the cell across from his he saw the missing marine. A man slowly walked down the long hall and looked at Tony. Any thoughts of the marine vanished as he focused again on Kate.

"God damn it, look at her. You're just going to let her die?" Tony yelled punching the cell wall.

"Oh what a pity." The man said simply.

"You bastard!" Tony yelled.

"I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you." The man said turning and walking away.

Tony walked back to Kate at looked down at her. Then it hit him. Kate always kept a gun strapped to her thigh. He would have to try to pick the lock and go after them with her gun, whoever "They" were. He eased the gun from its holster on her thigh. He couldn't help noticing she was wearing lacy red underwear, that made him smile, she never wore red, but the other day Tony had told her he thought it was a good color on her. He vaguely wondered what her bra looked like. The gun now in hand he started picking the lock. Roughly half an hour later he got it. Slowly he opened the door and snuck out, looking back over at Kate who lay helplessly on the ground.

"Hang in there Kate I'll be back for you." Tony said. He walked over to the marines cell and looked in. He was breathing but Tony knew he was hurt. Tony ran along the hall trying to find an exit to the building. He checked around corners carefully and saw a door; he prayed to God it was an exit. No guards blocked the door and Tony knew of he hurried he would be able to get Kate out. He ran quietly back to the cell and saw the guard he talked to earlier guard standing outside Kate's cell, his gun aimed point blank at her chest. Tony had no hesitation as he fired his own gun. It hit the man in the head. Tony prayed he'd be the only one there that would die today. He ran up to Kate. She was in the same spot he had left her but awake now.

"I found an exit. I'm gonna get us out if here ok?" Tony said and Kate nodded.

On an impulse Tony kissed her head before quickly before moving over to the marines cell. He had managed to stand up and watched as Tony came up to the cell door. He had blood on his face and the side of his head.

"Are you alright?" Tony asked.

"Yes. I'm not that badly hurt just a few wounds." He said.

Tony picked the lock and got it a lot quicker then the last one.

"Is she ok?" the marine asked looking at Kate.

"She's been shot in the shoulder… almost her chest, she needs to get to a hospital." Tony said walking back to Kate who had blacked out again. Tony felt for her pulse. He found but it had only grown fainter.

"Damn it Kate" he whispered.

"You love her don't you?" The marine asked.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't, in some ways." Tony said looking down at Kate who had gone an even more deathly white colour. "I found an exit. I'm going to carry her, can you lead with the gun?"

"Sure. Just tell me where to go." He said. Tony carefully picked Kate up, trying to support her arm and back. Slowly they left the cell. The marine led and Tony gave him instructions. They got to the door Tony had spotted earlier.

"Almost there Kate." Tony said.

Suddenly a gun went off. Tony stumbled forward trying to keep his balance and stay low to the ground at the same time. The marine fired back another guard. A bullet grazed about half an inch into Tony's leg and he stumbled forward again this time falling over. Kate lay in front of him her eyes opening slowly.

"Tony. Leave. Just go. You've done what you can." Kate said.

"I can't let you stay here, I won't leave with out you." Tony said looking into her eyes he saw tears fall down her cheeks. He reached down and wiped them away.

"We'll make it." He said quietly as he picked her up.

A few other gunshots went off and then the marine ran up to them.

"We've gotta get out of here, more guys are coming and we only have one gun. Can you walk?" He asked.

"Yes." Tony said, He limped to the exit and the marine cautiously opened the door he beckoned Tony through and he stumbled through it. What he saw made him so relieved he fell to his knees. Gibbs and McGee stood outside just about to move in. Two ambulances waited with them. Gibbs ran up to them, and saw Kate's state.

"You!" Gibbs beckoned to an ER doctor. "I need a paramedic over here NOW!" Gibbs yelled as he pried Kate from Tony's arms. Gibbs lay her down gently, and Tony collapsed next to her blood rushing from his leg. The SWAT team from PD had been called in and took over the situation inside the building. The first ambulance took the marine away. Kate was loaded up in the next one and Tony with her. The medic's got Kate as stable as they could, then stitched up and bandaged Tony's leg. He hadn't even realized he was hurt, he was to focused on getting out of there. The ambulance pulled off as Tony turned away form Kate not able to think about how close she was to death.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 

Once they arrived at the hospital Tony waited for the doctor to come and tell him how Kate was, his leg having been fixed up in the ambulance. He was in shock; scared to death that the doctor would come out and say, "I'm sorry, we did what we could." He sat down and saw Gibbs and Tim enter the room.

"Hey. You all right?" Gibbs asked him.

"Yes, I'm fine, it's Kate." Tony said, waving vaguely at the door labeled intensive care unit.

"Kate." Gibbs said, "Will be fine." giving Tony an intense stare. Tim gave Tony a goofy, yes-Gibbs-is-right smile and a thumbs up sign. Gibbs stared at him and shook his head slightly, suddenly Tim's thumbs up became a god-my-neck-itches thing, and he looked at Tony. Tony shook his head and Tim's goofy smile disappeared too, the lost puppy look replaced it.

About an hour later a doctor came into the waiting room.

"Is she going to be all right?" Tony asked.

"Amazingly, she's going to be fine. We were able to repair all the tissue damage; the bullet missed any vital organs but she lost a massive amount of blood. Had you gotten here any later then you did she would be dead. She's incredibly lucky and should be able to go home in a few days." The doctor smiled then looked at his watch "Oops sorry but I've got to go. Nurse Callahan can help you with anything else you need."

"Thank you." Said Gibbs, the doctor headed off down the hall muttering to himself and looking over the papers in his hand.

"You can see your wife now if you'd like" Said the nurse, directing her question at Tony. Tony blushed,

"Oh, uh, Kate's not my wife" he told the nurse.

"Oh I'm sorry, usually I'm spot on at guessing who are couples."

"Cha well ya know, obviously…" Gibbs gave Tony him a look, Tony promptly stopped that sentence, and said instead, "I'd still like to see her though."

"Yes, of course. One visitor at a time though, she's in the first room on the right." She said pointing to where Kate was.

"Tony you go ahead, I'm going to call Abby." Gibbs said.

"Right boss." Tony said walking down to Kate's room.

Tony entered the room. After pulling a chair over next to her, in a spur of the moment decision he grabbed her hand. Kate's eyes slowly opened and she smiled at him.

"Hey. How do you feel?" Tony asked.

"Tired, sore, like I was hit in the chest by a fifty-pound hammer." He smiled; glad she was feeling well enough to joke, at least a little. "Tony I need to… thank you. I mean… I told you to leave me and you didn't, not many people would do that." Kate whispered.

"Hey we're partners I couldn't leave you there." Tony said giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Are you hurt at all?" Kate asked.

"Nah." Tony lied hoping she didn't see him limp into the room from the wound on his leg.

"That's good. I'm sorry Tony." Kate said her eyes filling with tears.

"For what?" Tony asked confused.

"Everything I did today was wrong. I messed up." Kate's cheeks stained with tears.

"We all make mistakes Kate. You don't have to be sorry, it's over now, you don't need to worry." Tony whispered cupping her cheek with his hand as he wiped the tears away with his thumb. "Now you should get some rest, or you won't get out of here any time soon." Tony said.

"Ok, I think the pain killers are getting to me anyways." Kate giggled at Tony as she closed her eyes, a tear still on her cheek.

"Get some rest." Tony whispered, smiling at her laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Tony walked out of the room and saw Gibbs talking to the marine; he had a few stitches above his eyebrow and some just over his right ear.

"Hey boss how's Abby?" Tony asked Gibbs.

"She's fine now, after she made me chase Kate's surgeon half way across the hospital to tell her that Kate's going to be fine." Tony smiled, typical Abby.

"How are you holding up? And how's Kate?" The Marine asked Tony

"I'm fine, Kate's going to be fine as well." Tony said.

"Good, If it's ok with you guys then, I'm gonna head back to my flat." The Marine asked looking at Gibbs.

"That's ok were going to have to bring you in tomorrow to answer some questions though." Gibbs said.

"That's fine, I'll see you tomorrow then." He saluted to Gibbs and nodded to Tony.

After the Marine walked out the door Gibbs turned to Tony.

"How is she?" He asked.

"She's sleeping, but she seems to think its all her fault, though I think the painkillers were getting to her a bit. Where's Tim?" Tony asked noticing he wasn't with Gibbs anymore.

"That's pretty normal." Said Gibbs, "She's in shock and still processing what happened, she'll be jumpy for a while, Tim went to get Abby and us and some dinner." Gibbs said sitting down. "You did a hell of a job down there Tony."

"Thanks boss." Tony said smiling.

They sat not talking but obviously running through what had happened today in their heads. They sat there for about an hour before Tim turned up with Abby, she ran up to them her eyes wide. She hugged Tony.

"Tony! Your ok!" she hugged him. "Gibbs!" Abby accused, "You haven't told me what happened, I cant live like that!"

"Long story but Kate's going to be fine." Gibbs said making Abby sit down.

Tony wasn't very hungry so he didn't have anything to eat but went down to the hospital café and got a cup of coffee instead, his mind racing as he went through the last six hours. What if Kate hadn't made it? What would he be doing right now if she had died? Tony shuddered at the thought but quickly reminded himself that she was going to be fine. He walked back up to find Abby asleep, leaning on Tim's shoulder as he snored softly. Gibbs had gone back to the office to sort some stuff out.

"Ahem…." Tony coughed in McGee's direction. Tim's head snapped up, but Abby stayed asleep.

"Hey, you holding up ok?" Tim asked Tony.

"Yeah guess it just scared me to think we could have lost Kate today. I mean what if we had?" Tony said shuddering. "But, ya know… I could tell it would all be fine…." Tony added trying to cover up the fact that he had actually just let a little emotion show.

"The important thing is we didn't lose her and she is going to be fine." Tim said giving Tony a reassuring smile, more for his own benefit then Tony's.

Soon Tim decided to wake Abby up and take her home. He asked Tony if he wanted a ride but Tony wanted to stay at the hospital just in case anything changed. He said bye to them and sat back down for about half an hour. Slowly he got up and walked into Kate's room. She was awake and looked at Tony as he came and sat down next to her.

"Can't sleep?" Tony asked Kate.

"No, guess I'm just nervous, the last what… 6 hours? Just keep playing through my head; I thought I was going to die Tony, I wasn't… afraid…. But I just can't shake that feeling." Kate said. Tony could see her face was clouded with exhaustion even though she was trying to hide it. "Why are you still here?" she asked him.

"Guess I had one to many of the hospital's coffees not tired at all so don't really have a reason to go home. You really need to get some sleep though Kate. If you don't you will be to tired to do anything, and you don't want them making you stay here any longer then you need to." Tony said.

Kate's eyes welled up with tears again. Tony knew the only reason he was seeing this vulnerable, unsure side of Kate was because she was pumped up on morphine and pain killer's, but it made him look at her in a different light, she seemed so small and human, she was always so strong and had a 'can do anything' attitude. Tony hugged her carefully, not wanting to bump her shoulder.

"I'll be here Kate, you don't need to worry; you need to rest." Tony said and before he could stop himself he kissed the top if her head.

Half an hour later Kate was sleeping soundly and Tony slowly fell asleep next to her.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

The next few days went by slowly and Kate was able to go home from the hospital. Tony went to pick her up.

"You ready to get out of here?" Tony asked smiling.

"For sure, if I spend any more time in here I'm going to blow." Kate said getting together her few things. "Oh, and I never want to see Jello again." Tony laughed and grabbed Kate's bag as he and Kate walked down to the car park. Kate was all ready fiddling with the sling she had on her arm.

"How do they expect you to do anything in these things?" Kate asked exasperated

"Well Kate, I think the point is to stop you _from_ doing anything. Your gonna have to be one handed for a while." Tony said helping Kate into the passenger seat.

Tony put her bag in the trunk. They drove along the highway in silence. When they reached Kate's apartment it was early evening, Once inside Kate flopped on the sofa and Tony took her bag up to her room, Kate was to tired to protest Tony snooping around in her room. When he came back down Kate was asleep and Tony went to a near by Chinese take out restaurant.

"Kate. I got some dinner for you." Tony whispered placing the Chinese on the table.

Kate woke up as Tony came back into the living room with some plates and drinks.

"Thanks Tony." Kate said taking a plate and putting some food on it.

"Hey what kind of partner would I be if I left my wounded partner food less… your paying for this right?" Tony added. Kate laughed at him, typical DiNozzo, always looking for a free meal.

The next few weeks went by and Kate was cleared to do field work again. Her injury had healed nicely, and she was relieved to be out of the sling, which had driven her mad. It was Saturday evening and in celebration of Kate's recovery Abby decided they should all go out for a few drinks. Kate arm wasn't a hundred percent recovered and she wasn't risking driving yet. So Tony ended up driving her to the bar they had agreed on. They met Tim, Abby, and, surprisingly, Gibbs there.

"You ready?" Tony asked Kate before they got out of the car.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kate said smiling as she got out of the car. Tony didn't miss her slight grimace though as she moved her shoulder a little too far.

They walked through the parking lot and entered the bar; Tony noticed Kate constantly looking over her shoulder. He realized that the experience of being shot and locked up had left her really nervous, he hoped it would go away as she recovered completely.

"Hey, Kate, no ones going to hurt you. I won't let them." Tony said grabbing Kate's good shoulder.

"Thanks Tony, I don't know why I'm like this." Kate said wincing.

"You were shot in the shoulder and locked up in a _cell_, being nervousis natural." Tony said looking at her. "Come on, lets go have a good time."

A couple hours went by and drink after drink went into everyone's system, everyone drank a little more then they might have normally; relived that Kate was ok and that everything was back to normal. Because of this everyone ended up a bit tipsy by the end of the evening. Tim, for example, ended up standing in the middle of the dance floor swaying softly, completely perfecting the lost puppy look. Gibbs was sitting on a bar stool fascinated by a lady outside, talking to a man in a dark suit. Ok Gibbs wasn't exactly fascinated with the lady, he was fascinated by the Starbucks coffee in her hand As the lady walked away and Gibbs lost sight of the Coffee, he put his hand to his gun. Abby sat on a bar stool next to him humming to some song playing in her head, red bull in hand. She got so into the song she was humming she spun around so fast in circles she got dizzy and fell off, Tony came over and helped her back up. Tony saw Kate go outside, but didn't think anything of it until she didn't return. Tony made his way out of the bar. He saw Kate at the dock near by looking out over the sea, the full moon making the ocean glow silver. Tony spent several minutes just looking at Kate noticing how beautiful she looked with the moon reflecting off her face and hair. He snapped himself out of it, what the hell was wrong with him? _Kate's your partner, you've known her for forever and now your acting like a love struck sixteen year old? Pull it together._ He walked over to her.

"Hey you ok?" Tony asked quietly.

"Ya, just needed some fresh air." Kate responded quietly.

"You want to go for a walk?" Tony asked.

"Ok." Kate said giving him an odd look before starting to walk down the beach.

They walked for about ten minutes before Tony stopped and turned to look at Kate.

"Kate what I said to you in that cell; its true." Tony said stammering a bit. _Why am I telling her this? Why now? Because I never knew how much she meant to me before, _he thought.

"What?" Kate asked confused she had no idea what Tony was talking about.

"You might not have been awake then but what I wanted to tell you is that…" Tony could barely bring himself to say the last words.

"What Tony?" Kate asked again.

"I love you Kate, and I know I have a lame way of showing it, I'm sorry." Tony blurted out.

Kate stared dumbfounded at him.

"Its ok if you don't feel the same I just wanted to let you know, but if you ever wanted to go out to dinner or something." Tony knew he was making a fool of himself, Kate had never shown any interest in him other then a friend. _Damn it you never should have told her. _He thought, mad at himself.

"I might just take you up on your offer." Kate said quietly.

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Really." Kate said moving closer to him.

Tony leaned in and kissed her, he knew he was moving to fast but he couldn't help it. Kate surprised him by kissing him back, She ran her hands through his hair and Tony cupped her chin in his hands, He was so much taller then her he almost had to bend over in half to kiss her, so he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up; Kate laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist, he smiled and kissed her again.

"We should think about getting back." Tony said quietly into Kate's ear, her head now resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah I guess we should." Kate said.

Tony set Kate down and she brushed some sand off his cheek. They walked back down the beach. Once they reached the bar Abby, Tim and Gibbs were ready to leave.

"Where were you?" Gibbs asked.

"We just got some fresh air." Tony replied taking the keys to his car out.

Gibbs gave him a suspicious look. _Good thing it's dark. _Thought Kate, blushing at Gibbs' suspicious look.Tim waved down a cab and it pulled up to the curb. Abby, Tim and Gibbs got into it. "Kate get a ride with DiNozzo his flats closer to yours then any of ours. I'll see you on Monday. Don't be late." Gibbs said firmly.

"Ok boss see you then." Tony said waving as the cab drove off.

Tony got into his car and Kate got into the passenger seat. Tony started to drive off.

"You know what we should do?" Tony asked.

"What?" Kate asked smiling at his cheeky grin.

"I can swear that Abby and Tim are up to something I think… we should see if they get out of the cab at the same time." Tony said his eyes still on the rode.

Kate laughed. "Ok."

"Yes!" Tony said triumphantly

They followed the cab to its first stop. Gibbs got out and Tony grinned. After Gibbs said good-bye to Abby and Tim the cab went off again. For the next twenty minutes they trailed the cab. Finally the cab stopped and Tim and Abby got out. Tim paid the driver and they walked into Tim's apartment. They were holding hands and Abby's head was leaning on Tim's shoulder.

"I knew it." Tony said smiling.

Kate laughed as Tony turned around. "You're not going to let them know you saw them are you?" asked Kate.

"Nope, but I cant promise I wont bring it up if the Tim pulls a probie." Tony smirked.

Kate hit his arm playfully. For the rest of the ride Kate was silent like she couldn't find anything to say, or was too embarrassed to say it.

Tony stopped outside Kate's apartment.

"Home sweet home." Tony said.

" Ya…Thanks Tony. For everything." Kate said blushing again

"Its alright." He said goodbye and kissed her softly on the lips. Kate sighed as he drove away, _what have you gotten into Kate?_ She thought.She was so confused she didn't know what to think. Everything with Tony had happened so fast, but she couldn't shake the feeling of how right his arms had felt around her. As she walked inside she came to the conclusion that had helped her throughout her entire life. It will get sorted out in time; all in time.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Monday morning came and Tony got out of the elevator. He saw Kate sitting at her desk. Tim hadn't arrived yet, and Gibbs had gone upstairs to get some files.

"Hey Kate." Tony said smiling at her.

"Hi, Tony." Kate said smiling back at him, but looking a little confused.

"How are you?" Tony asked.

"Good." Kate said sitting at her desk and searching his eyes for something that told her he didn't regret what he had said the other night. Tony realized the question she was asking with her expression and walked over to her, he leaned down and whispered into her ear:

"I meant it Kate." She turned her face up to Tony he was right there, she was about to kiss him when Tim walked in the room. She quickly shot back in her chair and gave Tony an awkward smile. Tony gave her an evil grin; she tried to hide her smile. Gibbs walked into the room.

"Ok we've got the murder of a petty officer to solve and his two closest friends from the service are missing and it doesn't look like they committed the homicide." Gibbs said handing everyone a report.

"Not exactly good news." Tony said.

"Well lets try and get these other guys back." Said Gibbs.

The rest of the day went slowly. They interviewed family members, other petty officers and several people that over saw the groups training. Abby called them down because she found out what type poison it was that killed the petty officer.

"Hey Abby." Tim said and Tony tried not to laugh.

Kate hit Tony in the side and Tony grinned at her.

"Ok well the poison Ducky found is common in household cleaners, now the only way that could have got into his system was if he ingested it; which he did. We found chemicals in his stomach; his food was poisoned." Abby finished.

"Good work Abbs." Gibbs said to her.

"And…?" asked Abby.

"And what?" said Gibbs.

"Do you know how much poison it takes to kill a male bull elephant?" she asked

"Abby?" She looked at him "No idea." said Gibbs

"A lot, and a lot is roughly the amount of caffeine I consume in a day."

"Does this have any relevance to the case?" Gibbs demanded.

"Um… no. Its just that usually a _good work abs _comes with a Caf-Pow." Gibbs smiled and handed her the Caf-Pow from behind his back, he got onto the elevator.

"Thanx!" Abby yelled, as she made a slurping noise and hopped over to her computer.

The team spent the rest of the day looking over records. Tim and Gibbs went to the cafeteria to ask the cooks a few questions. Tony and Kate looked over the evidence but nothing jumped out at them. Gibbs and Tim returned and they said that the cooks didn't see anyone but they brought back film from one of their security cameras. It didn't show anything that could be useful. It was well into the night that and everyone was still in the office. Gibbs had gone out to get coffee and Tony had been drifting off to sleep when he woke up and saw Tim leave, heading down to Abby's lab; Abby was still working away. Tony got up and went over to see Kate who was also still working.

"You should think about getting some sleep." Tony said putting his hand around her shoulders.

"I know but I think I'm onto something with this video." Kate said.

That's when Tony noticed one of the cooks that were working on the video bend over a stove and pour something into a pot.

"Wonder what that is." Tony said.

"Where's Tim?" Kate asked looking around.

"He just went down to the lab." Tony had a small smile playing with at the ends of his lips.

"Come on." Kate said. They were just outside the lab and as Tony looked around the corner he saw Tim and Abby in the corner, Abby had Tim pinned up against the wall and they were kissing passionately.

"Oh, you gotta see this." Tony whispered to Kate.

Kate looked around the corner.

"Tony. We need to get their attention." Kate said quietly.

"Ok I have an idea. Tim! Tim you down here?" Tony said loudly. Tim shot away from Abby so fast he hit his head

"Oww… um…Yes I'm here what's up?" Tim said quickly, still trying to catch his breath.

Kate was half expecting him to say something totally irrelevant to the question, jumpy fro, almost being caught with Abby.

"Kate found something on the security tape, we need you two to see what it is." Tony said.

"Ok send it down, Tony can you stay with us to show us where it is." Abby said.

Kate went back up stairs and sent it down to them. Gibbs showed up and Kate filled him in. After confirming who the cook was and that it was _not_ an edible substance that he was pouring into the food, Gibbs said that he was going to go bring him in. Everyone fell asleep waiting for Gibbs to come in with the cook.

A couple hours later, I was morning now, Gibbs walked into the office coffee in hand. He was not happy, "He ran." Said Gibbs. "I'm going after him. You two question anyone who had anything to do with this man."

"We'll leave now." Said Kate. They drove along in silence until Tony broke it.

"Ha I can't wait to tease McGee about what we saw last night." Tony said.

"Tony, maybe we should keep it to ourselves, I mean if Gibbs found out about them it wouldn't go down so good. Besides, it could have been Abby and Tim finding out about us just as easily." Tony smiled at her. Kate persuaded Tony to keep quiet about it for now.

"So when should we go out for dinner?" Tony asked looking at Kate affectionately.

"Um well I dunno whenever we are both free I guess." Kate said, she had almost forgotten about going to dinner with Tony. All of a sudden it seemed so real and scary, her and Tony.

"You still want to go right?" Tony asked getting worried.

"Yes." Kate said smiling at him, she was happy about being with Tony, she wanted to do this.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Tony and Kate arrived at the camp and asked anyone who said they knew the missing cook if they knew anything about what he had been up to, but all they could come up with was that he hadn't turned up for work that morning. Tony and Kate were both upset that they didn't know anything new and couldn't even find out where he lived. The man had moved just a week before the petty officer was murdered and his knew address wasn't on his records and no one seemed to know his knew location.

"This guy was guarded; And smart." Said Tony.

"Not smart enough to hide his face when he was poisoning the petty officers food." Said Kate.

"How is someone not smart enough to wear a mask, go to moving to a location so it wouldn't come up on his records. He had an accomplice."

"No… he was the accomplice." Said Kate.

They went to find the director of the camp. They knocked on the door several times before someone let them in.

"Hi. I'm Special Agent DiNozzo and this is Special Agent Todd, we're here about the murder of one of your petty officers… Ronald Smith." Tony said rather quickly.

"We gave you all the info we had." He said started to close the door but Kate blocked him from closing it.

"Our job." Tony said, "Is to make sure all the information you gave us, is really all you've got."

"We want all the information you personally have on this officer." Kate said handing him a picture.

"I run this camp, I don't get friendly with its lower personnel." He said.

"He works here, he is a cook. Do you have the information on him or not?" Tony said firmly.

"No, but follow this man, (Tony and Kate had noticed the black officer in uniform standing behind the director) and he will show you were you can get all the information we have _all ready_ given you, phone number, location and what not. Now if you are done I have things to attend to. Agent DiNozzo, Agent Todd." The man said nodding at them.

Once they had the information and had his address they called Gibbs.

"Hi boss. Yup we got the information. It's not his current address but the house is still on the market so its possible there's still some stuff to be found. Do you want us to head out there? Ok see you later." Tony put down the phone. "He wants us to go head out there." Tony said to Kate as he pulled out of the camp. Once they reached his house the one thing they noticed was that it was extremely quiet.

"Tony we don't have a warrant to search the house." Kate said.

"Damn it." Tony said quietly.

They walked to the front door and knocked loudly. When no one answered Tony went around and looked in the windows.

"Hey Kate." Tony said.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"I think I know where he is." Tony looked around smiling.

Inside there was a 'worker needed' pamphlet for a 5 star hotel just outside of DC.

"You think he got the job?" Kate asked Tony.

"Can't see why not." Tony replied already calling Gibbs.

A few minutes later he got off the phone a grinned widely at Kate.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Ready to go undercover?" Tony asked still smiling.

"Do I have a choice?" Kate responded, kiddingly

"Gibbs confirmed that he works there and we'll we need to get in there. So break out your fancy cloth's because according to our fake I.Ds I'm one of the wealthiest men in the Landscaping industry." Tony said almost laughing.

"Uh oh here we go. Just this time Tony make sure you don't fall over when you're trying to eavesdrop." Kate said playfully.

They got back to NCIS and got on some good clothes and were givin a wad of money to pay for the hotel.

"Remember don't move in until you see something suspicious." Gibbs instructed.

"Got it boss." Tony said his eyes flashing with excitement.

"Oh and DiNozzo, have a good time." Gibbs said smiling.

"Thanks boss."

Tony and Kate got into a car that was normally used by the rich and famous.

"Man o man I am looking forward to this." Tony said looking at the car.

"God Tony you're like a kid at Christmas." Kate joked, fiddling with all the jewellery she had to wear.

"You look really nice in that dress Kate." Tony said.

"Thanks." Kate said but her face was going bright red.

On the way Tony's phone rang.

"DiNozzo, Oh hi boss. What? Ok. Alright." Tony put down the phone.

"What was that all about?" Kate asked.

"Well Gibbs got the room for us, it's under Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. There are some rings in the glove box, we have to wear them." Tony said.

Kate laughed.

"Rushing it a bit aren't we Tony?" Kate said jokingly.

Tony laughed. When they got there they checked in and went up to the room. Once they got all their bags in they stood looking at the room.

"Wow." Tony said looking around.

"God… how much is this costing?" Kate said. " Wait, you know what, I don't even want to know."

"Hey the governments paying for it, lets enjoy it." Said Tony as he winked at Kate.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Later on that evening Tony and Kate went down to dinner. They would look around for the cook but so far their search was in vain. After dinner they went for a walk around. They saw a huge spa; from it they would have a perfect view of the hotels grand restaurant "_Salsa_" Tim had gotten information that this was the resturant their cook was working in. Tony looked and Kate and grinned, they walked back up to their room they changed into their swim suits grabbed towels and went back down to the spa. They sat and relaxed for about an hour watching for the cook, Tony could see slight embarrassment in Kate's eyes. Several people would walk by and look at her shoulder and Tony knew that Kate had been shot through and though so the scars came up badly.

"You ok?" Tony asked taking her hand.

"Yeah just something I guess I will have to get used to." Kate said rubbing the scar.

Half an hour later they got out of the spa and Kate saw an indoor pool with a huge diving board. Tony gave Kate a funny look.

"There is no way I am jumping off that thing." Kate said firmly.

"Fine, I am though." Tony said running off.

Kate smiled as he ran and climbed up the ladder. Tony jumped off and hit the water hard. But when he didn't come up Kate started to get worried. She suddenly found herself jumping in the water after him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Suddenly Tony grabbed her waste and swam up. They reached the top and just looked at each other.

"Ha got you in here." Tony said laughing.

"God Tony that was not funny." Kate said but she had to stop a smile.

Tony moved closer to her and brushed the hair out of her face. Kate smiled at him. He kissed her softly. Kate didn't know what she was feeling, half of her wanted to slap Tony; the other half was enjoying it. Tony pulled away and smiled at her.

"Just playing the part." Tony said giving her a goofy smile.

"Ok." Kate squeaked back not being able to say much.

Tony laughed and he helped her out of the pool. They got back up to the room but Kate hesitated like she wasn't sure where this was heading. She went and showered, and when she came out Tony was lying on the bed in boxers and a T-shirt, watching T.V.

Kate came back out wearing a towel, she knew she shouldn't, but she had forgotten to grab a change of cloths when she had gone into the bathroom for a shower. She grabbed her bag so she could go back into the bathroom and change but before she got to the bathroom Tony had stood up and walked over to her. He didn't say anything, he just kissed her. At first she let him kiss her but then she pulled away. "Tony, we can't… I mean… We're on duty, and…"

"Shhh." he said, putting his finger to her lips and kissing her again. Kate gave in, she couldn't help it, and she couldn't resist him. She ended up on the bed with Tony on top of her; he turned the TV off and threw the remote on the floor, two minutes later Kate's towel followed.

Kate woke the next morning still embraced in Tony's arms. Silently she got up and got dressed. _Oh my God, what have I done? We're on duty; and he's my partner. I just broke practically every rule I know._ When she was finished doing her make up she walked back into the main room and saw Tony sitting in a chair looking out at the ocean.

"Hey." Kate said sitting in the chair next to him.

"Morning." Tony said looking over at her. "What would you like for breakfast?" Tony handed her the menu.

"Oh um… well." Kate looked over it. "Since we are at a 5 star hotel I think I'll treat myself to the egg's benedict, it's supposed to be one of the best in DC." Kate said.

She was so confused; did he want her to act like last night had never happened?

"Sounds good." Tony went over to the phone, dialed room service, and ordered. He put the phone down and turned to look and Kate.

"Kate about last night, I'm sorry. God, I shouldn't have… rushed us, if anyone finds out you could loose your job."

"_We_ could lose _our_ jobs Tony." Kate said correcting him "But Tony…. It's… ok." She said in barely a whisper. Someone knocked on the door and Tony went to answer it. A room service guy handed Tony his order. Tony turned around towards Kate a shocked look on his face.

"Tony? What is it?" Kate asked setting the food down on the table.

"That was him Kate." Tony said. "The cook."

"You're kidding?" Kate said, tempted to look out the door but knowing that it could blow their cover.

"Nope." Tony said quietly.

They grabbed their badges and guns as Kate dialed Gibbs; they headed out of the room as Gibbs answered.

"Kate, what's up?" Asked Gibbs.

"We found the cook, we're following him now."

"Good work. Call me as soon as you have him."

"Right." Kate hung up. "Ready?" Kate asked Tony.

"Absolutely." Tony said his voice had gone from being goofy and excited to serious and ready for work.

They followed him down to the kitchens.

"Excuse me but you are not allowed in here." One of the cooks said.

"Ok sorry." Kate said. "When should we move in?" She asked Tony.

"Right after he delivers that plate." Tony said. Kate's phone rang.

"Agent Todd."

"Kate it's Abby, I ran the print's that we found on the detergent bottle the prints match up with your cook, Albert Gomez and we have a witness confirming that he served food to Petty Officer Ronald. We've almost got a warrant for his arrest, but it will take about ten minutes."

"Thanks Abby, Talk to you soon." Kate hung up.

"Abby found prints linking our cook to the murder of the petty officer."

"Man this place is massive." Tony said looking around.

"Where do we start?"

"There a huge private lunch reception going on in the ball room now, hopefully he's there." Kate said and they headed off at a run for the ballroom.

" Tony there he is." Kate said quickly pointing across the long room.

"Ok lets go get this bastard." Tony said eyeing him cautiously.

Kate went around the side to try to talk to him.

"Um hi." Kate said.

"Can I help you?" He asked politely.

"I was wondering where the gym was." Kate lied quickly.

"Oh you work out? Not many women that stay here work out." He said chuckling.

"No my husband wants to know." Kate continued to lie.

"Oh sorry." He said quickly.

"It's ok." Kate said quickly.

"It's just over there…" the man turned around and pointed and Kate knew that it was now or never. She grabbed his hand and placed it on the small of his back.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked getting very angry.

" NCIS, Your under arrest for murder. Don't try to run you're surrounded, and I'm armed. Oh, and by the way I do work out." Kate said cuffing him.

"Well you got the wrong man!" He said in rage.

"Forensic evidence says we haven't." Tony said coming up behind Kate.

A police car waited outside to take the man back to NCIS. The officer took him a nodded at Tony and Kate.

"Take him back to NCIS." Kate said.

"Sure thing." The officer said.

Kate and Tony headed back up to their hotel room to pack their bags since the cook was now in custody. Kate then reached into her pocket and then realized she had left her phone in the ballroom.

"Tony we need to go back to the ballroom I left my phone on the table when we were arresting Gomez." Kate said.

Tony and Kate walked back into the ballroom; Tony's phone started ringing. He looked down and saw it was Gibbs.

"Boss, we got Gomez, he was in the…." Tony said but he knew that he was probably all ready there so what did Gibbs want?

"DiNozzo where are you and Kate?" Gibbs said quickly.

"In the Ball Room, Why?"

"Tony get the hell out of there, a bombs gonna level the place in two minutes." Gibbs was shouting at him. Kate looked at Tony.

"NCIS!" Kate yelled taking less then a second to flash her I.D. out, "THERES A BOMB IN HERE EVERYONE OUT!" Kate barely had time to register two Secret Service agents hurling a well-dressed middle-aged man towards an exit as people ran, screaming, out of the room.


End file.
